Review of Meek's Cutoff (2011) by Art S — 18 Feb 2012

Meek's Cutoff is about three couples: Soloman and Emily Tetherow (Will Patton and Michelle Williams): Thomas and Millie Gately (Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan), and William, Glory and Jimmy White (Neal Huff, Shirley Henderson and Tommy Nelson), who hire Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood who I didn't even know was in this film until my brother told me because his character has tonnes of hair and you don't see his face very well) to be ther guide on the Oregon Trail in the 1800s. He leads them on a short cut that gets them lost. In desperation, they kidnap a native (Rod Rondeaux) who speaks no English to lead them to safety but they don't know if he's trying to lead them in to a trap or trying to help them.

I really liked this film. Michelle Williams is one of my favourite actresses of all time and she is fantastic in this film. It's probably one of my favourite performances of the year. I also really liked Bruce Greenwood and Paul Dano wasn't bad either. This film is very slow but I found it to be suspenseful every second. I loved the long takes where the camera just sits in one place and films them going through rivers and plains. It's beautiful to watch. I like it just as much as The Tree of Life and would say it's tied with that film for the best film of 2011. It's on DVD now so you should definitely see it. It's an excellent film.